Mercs!

by Dorian Dawes

  A stooped figure in a shawl could be seen through the window of one of the smaller buildings. They bore Valran features but lacked the molted appearance of the ghoulish statues seen around the temple. The figure acknowledged her presence with a simple nod and hobbled toward the open doorway.

  As they came outside, Talisha could see they were definitely an older figure, bearing heavy bags of wrinkles beneath their eyes. Their wings seemed all but useless to them as they hobbled around on a knobby wooden cane. Many of their feathers had gone gray, but some still had vibrant auburn hues.

  “We were hoping it’d be your mother who’d come to us.” They didn’t so much speak as they broadcasted her thoughts clearly into her head in the Valran tongue. The language sounded so much more beautiful when they spoke it, unlike the squawking noises her mother had made when trying to pronounce their dialect.

  “Am I that much of a disappointment?” Talisha winced. She couldn’t help but feel a tad put off by that remark.

  “We meant no disrespect. We would be glad to have either of you, only it is troublesome that she never made the journey. Clearly, you have surpassed her.”

  “Yeah. How long is this gonna take? ’Cause I was mentioned something about some trials, and meanwhile I left my only two friends on this planet with some unsavory individuals.”

  “Time is irrelevant.”

  “Okay, I know that’s something you cryptic, mystic folks like saying but—”

  “You misunderstand. This is a psychic vision being projected via the bond you have made with your armor. Time is quite literally irrelevant. This will all be over in a matter of minutes.”

  Talisha frowned, taken aback. “Oh. That’s convenient, and surprisingly efficient.”

  The Valran creature made a strange expression of opening their beak in such a way as to mimic a smile. At the very least she hoped it was a smile and not openmouthed shock at her utter lack of decorum.

  “You want to know why your mother was chosen,” the Valran said. “You want to know about the burden she passed onto you.”

  Talisha shrugged, but her eyes were earnest. “That specter back in the temple mentioned something about trials and a guardian?”

  The Valran’s eyes softened, then closed tightly. Their talons wrapped tightly around the knob of the cane as they turned their face away, shoulders heavy. Their wings shook and their chest heaved as if in great pain.

  “So the wraiths still occupy the temple. Troubling. I have much to show you.”

  The greenery and lush temple environment vanished, replaced by the shimmering blackness of space. Stars and planets glittered all around them. Talisha could only gasp as she beheld the full scope of the cosmos. The knowledge of every planet and star and constellation the Valran held was but a stray thought away. She’d but to reach out with her mind and grasp it.

  The Valran brushed their claws across the infinite space. “You’ve long felt an itch to explore, to reach, to know. It is a need that is more than human, it is universal. It is the desire of all living things to expand beyond their borders. We came to believe that in a society where the basic needs and wants of every living being within that society were met, then we could all work together to accomplish greatness.”

  “What happened?”

  “Even at our people’s lowest point, that of the current era, we are still regarded as legends. What do you think? We began by creating a perfect world; one without poverty, sickness, or inequality. We then sought to bring that world to the universe.

  “Therein is where we became arrogant. Like fools, we assumed that the peace and harmony we had achieved upon our own worlds made us a more enlightened race. Prejudice, greed, the desire to exert our own supremacy and stamp others beneath our heel…these are evils that can sprout up in even the most enlightened of societies.”

  Glowing lines sprouted from a green and lush planet toward the rest of the galaxy, slowly spilling out in all directions. Talisha had to watch in horror as she realized the imperialistic implications of the Valran’s words. They hadn’t been a race of nomads, but conquerors. The temples scattered across the galaxy were the last remains of a powerful galactic empire.

  She was shown images of Valran ships blotting out the skies of nearby planets. She saw a slew of alien races trampled as their homes and crops burned. She had an inkling she’d never see their like anywhere else again. They all faced extinction beneath the Valran machine.

  “That was what became of our campaign, but that’s not how it started. All it takes is an inkling, the germ of a thought to begin when one person decides that their life holds more value than another’s.”

  “Yeah,” Talisha said with a resigned sigh. “Humanity has been there before.”

  “We did not move to stop the corruption until it was too late. When the terrible ideals of genocide sprouted, we naively believed we could reason with those whose hearts had been blackened by hate. We fought with ineffective weapons of art and reason, while they had with them the fervor of blind fury, and the will to act.

  “The enlightened society we wanted fell into an industrial nightmare of machines and totalitarian horror. Those who resisted the new regime were silenced or destroyed, and, for our failure, the galaxy burned.”

  The images rippled into more worlds that appeared very much like the interior of the Valran temple, only more cohesive and sterile. Entire planets were covered to create a mechanized tribute to a twisted mockery of Valran culture. Talisha realized with sickening horror that many of the lofty structures were meant to enforce the knowledge of who had power and who lacked it. While the designs were different from the buildings she’d seen back on the IGF capital planet of Khorthall, the philosophy was the same. Entering into one of these buildings was meant to subjugate the citizenry before the might of the state.

  “We stretched ourselves thin with conquest. Our resources were low, and our economy in shambles. We could not afford another campaign, but only more war had any hope of sustaining us. That’s when we made a breakthrough and created warp travel; the technology that would ultimately doom our entire species.”

  “That explains how you were able to reach so far,” Talisha said. “I’d heard theories the Valran were warp-capable, but we thought warp travel was just fiction.”

  “It is all too real, and it wrought devastating consequences not only across the galaxy, but to us. The ability to cross dimensional gaps created for us the ability to arrive instantly to any planet we wished to conquer, but at a terrible cost. Every time we made a jump, a little piece of ourselves was left behind. We soon became withered, frail husks of a people.

  “Those who rejected warp travel and resisted the current regime managed to avoid this hideous alteration, but the more militant among us soon resembled the ghoulish statues you likely saw as you traveled through the temple. The war was brought to an eventual close when our soldiers were too weak and frail to fight anymore, their bodies utterly decimated by the warp-disease.”

  She then saw images of frail and sickly Valran. There were small children whose feathers were gray and molting long before their time. Many died in the streets as terrible, skeletal figures. For some it was like their bodies had started decomposition long before their vitals stopped functioning—a slow, horrific death.

  “We soon found that, while the condition was hastened by excessive warp travel, anyone who had ever used the technology or spent time near the technology had succumbed to it. Not a single member of our race was free from the sickness, and though our scientists raced round the clock for a cure, our fate had already been sealed.

  “Some of us sought to stave off the condition by dwelling in that between-dimension permanently. Our bodies took on spectral forms as some of us learned to survive in this new state of being, kept from dissipating into the void through psychic will alone. It kept us from dying out completely, but drove many into a traumatized frenzy, unable to bear the strain of it all. They were either violent or fell into a comatose state, stuck in t
he constant repetition of a twisted memory. They were like ghosts.

  “We few who remained understood that this was the end of our race, so we took steps to preserve what we thought were the best snapshots of our culture. The human race was just reaching out into the galaxy in those years and calling attention to our forgotten conquered worlds with their corporate wars.”

  “How long did you remain in that state before you found my mother?” Talisha asked. “And why did you choose her?”

  A little girl with dark brown skin and thick black hair appeared before her, wandering the abandoned streets of a bombed-out city. She was dirty and crying heavily. She hadn’t eaten in days. It was the original Talisha Artul.

  “A human girl wandered into one of our temples. Those of us with our minds intact saw a fledgling in need of basic care and protection. We spent the next few years not concerned with our own well-being, but caring after the needs of another.

  Talisha now saw her mother fully grown and wearing the armor of the Valran. All of her mother’s deeds were splayed out before her, both good and bad. She saw images of the families she’d rescued, and the innocents she’d gunned down with her cannon and blaster. It was the full and complete legend of the great Talisha Artul, and she carried with her always the signature armor of the Valran.

  “Do you see now why she was chosen? It was a selfish action, a means of hoping that the galaxy would remember us not as tyrants, but for the one truly great thing we as a people ever accomplished. In our darkest hour, we fed and cared for an alien child.”

  “She was capable of evil,” Talisha said, her words crawling out of her mouth, each tinged with sadness. “But she also did a lot of good.”

  “She contained multitudes, as do we all.”

  The images faded and she was once more standing in the lush temple grounds with the old Valran leaning against their cane. Their eyes shined brightly, as if they contained all the stars of the galaxy. The Valran walked along the stream toward the large structure.

  “The temple…” Talisha said, searching for the right words to explain what was happening outside. “It’s expanding. This planet might suffer if it’s allowed to continue.”

  The Valran stopped walking. They whirled round to face her. “The Wraiths. You woke them when you brought the temple above ground. It’s their memories feeding into the core systems.”

  “What are the wraiths?” Talisha asked. “Are those the Valran who turned violent?”

  “The last vestiges of their pain and suffering carried on as a psychic projection, still capable of doing great harm. You might think of them as ghosts. We must hurry.”

  “I thought you said time was irrelevant?”

  “The wraiths are capable of tapping into this very psychic connection. If we do not hurry, they will overwhelm your consciousness and take control of your body.” The Valran then rushed forward grabbing Talisha by the arms.

  They lead her into the mouth of the tallest structure, where the rustic smell of ancient stone awaited her. Inside was another chamber, wholly dark save for a thin shaft of light in the center of the room. Within that beam hovered a pulsating blue orb with shimmering gold lines that flashed and glittered in the light.

  “I’ve seen this place,” Talisha whispered. “In my dreams.”

  “A projection seeped into your mind from your helmet,” the Valran explained, leading her further into the chamber. “It was always meant for you to come here. We had a series of trials planned and it was all supposed to be very mystical and teach you life-affirming lessons, but now there’s no time.”

  “Sounds educational,” Talisha said, hurrying toward the orb in the center of the room. “Shame I’m having to miss it. So what is this thing?”

  “A psychic representation of data that will be sent into your helmet upon activation,” The Valran explained. “The armor we gave your mother was only a training suit, it contained a mere fraction of the true capabilities of our people.”

  “So we’re looking at a serious hardware upgrade.” Talisha nodded, biting her lip. “I like it, but how does this help us save the planet?”

  “Without this data, you will be unable to navigate the temple to the control core where you can silence the screaming thoughts of the wraiths. A warning though.”

  Talisha could’ve groaned but restrained herself. “There’s always a warning.”

  “This was no temple, but a tomb. It was meant to keep the wraiths locked and secured until such hope as a cure for their condition could be found. Our fear is that any attempt to dislodge their hold over the systems may unleash them upon the world. You would face the last great shame of our people.”

  “A horde of angry ghost-birds,” Talisha said. “Not the weirdest thing I’ve ever gone up against.”

  She reached out to grab the orb, but was halted by a talon resting against her arm.

  The Valran looked into her face, eyes wide and full of fear. “The streams of data will hurt.”

  Talisha stared at the pulsating orb. She took one last determined glare at it before lowering the visor on her helmet. “I’m no stranger to pain.”

  They lowered their head and nodded, backing away in reverence. “Fight well, daughter of the Valran. You are the last of our kind.”

  A hideous scream filled the temple walls. Talisha darted her gaze to the ceiling to see faces forming in the darkness and a hundred translucent talons reaching out to her from every side. She turned back to the orb and shoved her arm cannon directly into it.

  Crackling blue lightning pulsed out of the orb and enveloped her. Talisha threw back her head in agony as her mind was overwhelmed with psychic visions. The wraiths materialized within the temple, swirling around the platform.

  The Valran brandished their cane and stood with arms outstretched in front of Talisha. They placed their talons over their skull and concentrated, creating a domed barrier around Talisha’s helpless body. Hungry claws tore at the barrier’s surface, bending it with the force of their violent will.

  Talisha let out one last scream before pulling away from the orb, and the floor collapsed beneath her. The rest of the vision was ripped away as she plummeted into darkness. Shrieking echoes remained in her mind until the last.

  Chapter Eleven

  THINGS HAD BEEN so much simpler when Rogers had been a sheriff. Bad guys stroll into town, and either they get a stern talking to and get intimidated by a scary robot showing them who’s boss, or they get shot. It was easy to identify the bad guy and the lines between right and wrong. There were no ethical debates about upholding corrupt systems or perpetuating oppression or weird alien magic.

  It was also an incredibly limiting existence, filled with loneliness. He was always willing to protect others but had never had anyone willing to do the same for him. Not until Talisha. She’d put herself at great personal risk with the hope it might save all of them.

  Bluebird still held him tightly in her grip. To her surprise, and his, he returned that terrified embrace. As the minutes passed, they feared the worst.

  Then, steam emerged from the capsule once more, and the doors slid open. Talisha’s armor had undergone a radical transformation. Its color was now an electric blue and tinged with stripes of black and hints of lurid gold. The armor now came equipped with dome-like pauldrons large as her head and a thicker breastplate. Her arm cannon had at least tripled in size, but most impressive were the changes to her helmet.

  The visor was now a thin black lens covering her eyes while the rest had taken on a pointed, beak-like appearance. Ominous spikes jutted out at an angle from behind the helmet, giving her the silhouette and overall impression of a bird of prey. She stepped out of the chamber.

  Mattu approached her, placing a cautionary hand in front of his squad. “Talisha, your armor…are you all right? What happened?”

  Rogers did a quick scan of the armor. It was significantly more advanced than her previous suit. He couldn’t determine the function of the pauldrons, though his scans revealed
highly advanced and complicated machinery running through them. He suspected they might be powering other functions of the suit, but it was a wild guess at best.

  Bluebird released Rogers and hurried past Mattu to Talisha’s side. She might’ve picked up the bounty hunter and swung her around had Talisha not held a warning palm in her direction. Rogers noted the look of apprehension on Bluebird’s face. He didn’t like that.

  Talisha grunted and placed a hand over her helmet. “I’m okay. Just keep your distance.”

  “What happened in there, cowgirl?” Rogers said.

  Talisha laughed a little. “You’re not gonna believe—” Her words were cut off as she doubled over and screamed.

  Sparks of electricity ran over the whole of her suit. She gripped the sides of her helmet, hollering in pain. Rogers ran forward and pulled Bluebird back while Talisha’s suit pulsed with a ghostly blue light.

  A specter showed its howling face superimposed over Talisha’s visor. It opened its beak in a hideous screaming yowl before Talisha’s screams were drowned out by its own.

  “Talisha, what in the heck is going on!” Rogers yelled.

  She looked at him and stood. She pointed her arm cannon directly at the group. The IGF squad responded by immediately raising their rifles and blasters to point in her direction.

  Talisha managed to croak out a single hoarse word. “Run.”

  The cannon charged, a pure white beam of powerful energy. Rogers and Bluebird were close enough to the center of the chamber that they had plenty of room to dive out the way. The members of the IGF squad on the platform were not so lucky. Their bulky armor left them little in the way of speed and caused them to take up most of the platform they occupied. On either side of them was a drop to their doom in the depths of the chasm below.

  Only Mattu escaped the power of the fully-charged beam thanks to his more agile suit. He had just enough time to turn around to see his squad vaporized under the heat of the beam. A brilliant flash of light, and then nothing. Only ashes remained.